"Freedom For"

Mark Dunagan
12/02/12 - Sunday Evening

“Freedom For”

Paul sought to persuade the Christians in Galatia that “it was for freedom that Christ set us free” (Galatians 5:1).   We can fail to appreciate the real freedom that we have as Christians, and a number of people in the world do not view Christianity as offering freedom.  One reason for this is that the world often has the wrong idea about freedom.

“Freedom From”

Many people when they hear the word “freedom” immediately think of freedom in a negative sense.  “Isaiah Berlin, the great Oxford philosopher, used to remind students repeatedly that although freedom has two parts, many young people never experience the highest freedom because they appreciate only the lower.  Freedom, Berlin stressed, is both negative and positive.  Negative freedom, or ‘freedom from’, has an obvious appeal in the modern world.   Teenagers, for example, are famous for acting as if all freedom is freedom from parents, from teachers, and from supervision.  Many adults make the same mistake….Many Americans equate freedom with privacy…’Nobody disturbs them’…’the right to be let alone’” (Time for Truth, Os Guinness p. 85).  A good modern example of this preoccupation of “freedom from” is how people interpret the American cherished principle of “freedom of speech”.  To many, this means “freedom to offend”, and freedom from restraints on my language.  When the Prodigal Son demanded his share of the inheritance before his father died, he was into “freedom from” (Luke 15:12).

A Warning

In every generation the choice has been between living for God and others or living for myself.  It is tempting to think that freedom and happiness will be found in the second choice.  Yet history is filled with examples of one generation after another that opted for “freedom from” and did not find what people said it would deliver.  We will encounter people who will be zealous in advocating “freedom from”, but carefully look at how their lives are turning out (John 8:34; 2 Peter 2:19).

• We have all seen people who set out to do what they like, and ended up not liking what they had done.
• We have seen people who set out to live apart from God only to fall into a lifestyle that was filled with addictions, fears, and bondage.
• Living for self often brings such predictable things as shame, a dislike for self, regret, and as Jesus observed, people who simply want the mountains to fall upon them and hide what they have become (Ezekiel 6:9; Luke 22:30; Revelation 6:16).
• Life even for the selfish does have limitation.  There are only so many drugs you can try, only so many experiences you can indulge in.  In the end, “boredom” is often the future that faces the transgressor or God’s law.  “For instance, shock-rocker Marilyn Manson complained, ‘We can’t go any further without starting over…What violence can you show?  What other drug can you do?  It’s all been done’” (Guinness p. 29)

The Higher Freedom

Obviously Jesus brought us a freedom that is “from” certain things, like the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15), and a freedom from anxiety (Matthew 6:25).  Yet such things are always rooted in a higher freedom, that is, a freedom “for”, a freedom in which we have rights with responsibilities.  Paul stated it this way, “You were called for freedom, brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).  Peter stated the same truth when he noted, “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil” (1 Peter 2:16).    This last passage is very timely in our culture in which various evil practices, such as abortion are covered with the word “rights”.  The founders of our country understood this principle as well.  They created a society with ordered liberty or tempered freedom.  For example, the freedom of religion was not a freedom from religion, but the freedom to worship God.   So what is necessary to be truly free men and women?

Truth and a Love of Truth

Jesus emphasized this point when He said, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you freedom” (John 8:31-32).   So why is truth, absolute truth, and a love for truth so vital to us being or remaining free?

• Because without truth we are all vulnerable to being manipulated by the powerful influences and voices in society.
• After all, how do you detect a lie, when do you know when someone is trying to deceive you if there isn’t any truth?  And we will encounter a whole world of lies, from what the powerful try to tell us, to what some person claimed they experienced, saw or did.
• Paul noted that those who do not embrace a love for the truth end up being deceived (2 Thess. 2:10-12).
• The existence of absolute truth makes us all equal, for the issue is not who is the most clever, the best speaker, has the highest IQ, or who can get his or her message out to the most people.  God’s truth is universal, it is available to all men and it is understandable to all.  It is true everywhere and under all circumstances. 
• Seeing that absolute truth is timeless, universal, works in any time period or situation, I can therefore go ahead and build my life, my future and my happiness on a very solid foundation.

“The Christian faith is not true because it works; it works because it is true.  It is not true because we experience it; we experience it—deeply and gloriously—because it is true.  It is not simply ‘true for us’; it is true for any who seek in order to find, because truth is true even if nobody believes it and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it.  That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity—it is simply true and that is the end of it.  It is one of the Permanent Things” (Guinness pp. 79-80).

• I can only find freedom when I really own up what is real.  The Prodigal Son found  the road back to freedom when he “came to himself”, woke up and realized that home had been good (Luke 15:17), and his current situation would only result in his death.
• G. K. Chesterton wrote, “The moment you step into a world of facts, you step into a world of limits.  You can free things from alien and accidental laws, but not from the laws of their own nature.  You may, if you like, free a tiger from his bars; but do not free him from his stripes” (Orthodoxy).

What this means is that we can only be free if we are really living according to our real nature, that is, a man or woman created in God’s image.  No matter how hard a person tries, happiness, contentment and freedom will not be found by living in a manner contrary to the will of our Creator.  As Jesus noted, everyone who sins ends up the slave of sin (John 8:34).

A Love of Goodness

Jesus equally noted this important aspect of freedom, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin…If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:34,36).   Others have echoed the same concept.  The Roman poet Tacitus wrote, “The more corrupt the state, the more laws”.  Benjamin Franklin observed, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom”.  Lord Acton wrote, “Freedom is not the power of doing what we like but the right of being able to do what we ought”.  So why is this so?

• Because freedom is not just about “rights” it is equally about the “rights of others”.  Paul observed that our freedom in Christ exists not to live selfishly, but rather to “serve one another” (Galatians 5:13), and to serve God (1 Peter 2:16).
• Because without virtue, a love of goodness, such things as love, self control and patience are impossible as a lifestyle.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017